Wednesday, July 11, 2012

First week in July, 2012

The big gardening news this year - well, two big headlines, I guess:  DROUGHT and RABBITS.
It's been really dry this summer - only two rainfalls in the past three weeks, everything is wilty and the rain barrels are empty already.  That being said, nothing has died, yet.  I'll need to bring the pump out and start some irrigation though at the end of the month.  The main colour at this time of year is purple - with those small Alliums blooming, as well as Clematis and Echinacea. 

A success story - so far anyway - is the Lilac I rescued from the ditch.  Every year the County mows the sides of the roads once or twice.  A kilometre west of me is a lovely old house with a huge Lilac hedge in front - 12 feet high or so.  Every year it sends up seedlings in the ditch and this year I dug up two little plants (not so little - about three feet) just days, it turns out, ahead of the mowers coming along.  This little guy is getting most of my rain barrel water!

Rabbits Rabbits everywhere this year!! Where are the coyotes ???   Glad I didn't plant carrots!

Work continues on The Mound.  The Daylilies I transplanted there last fall are blooming now and taking over one section.  I have a bunch more I started from seed (including some interesting crosses between yellow and red) waiting in my allotment garden - I'll put them in this September.  I also plan to transplant the remaining Peonies (four or five I think) that once were so lovely but now are almost completely shaded out by my growing White Spruce.

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